ISSN: 2574-2701
Authors: Musa SA*, Kebede K and Yusuf Y
The study was conducted in the Doba and Mesala district of the West Hararghe Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia to evaluate the morphometric difference among indigenous chicken populations. Samples were selected purposively based on the extent of chicken production potential and the agroecology of the districts. From each district, three kebeles were selected and 200 respondents (102 from the Doba and 98 from Mesala) were randomly selected from households included in the study for the questionnaire survey. A total of 420 adult live chickens of both sexes, 210 chickens (92 male and 118 female) older than 24 weeks from Doba, and 210 chickens (65 male and 145 female) from Mesala were employed for gathering information on both quantitative and qualitative traits. Multivariate variance analysis was used to determine major traits that differentiate the chicken population. Canonical discriminant multivariate statistical analysis was conducted for more powerful trait comparisons. Stepwise discriminant analysis was conducted to check the discriminating power of the traits. For both male and female hens, the stepwise discriminate analysis showed that the majority of quantitative variables showed significant (p<.0001) discriminating power in phenotypic variation. The Wilks' Lambda test reveals that differences within populations, rather than the variation between populations were accountable for 43% of the variability in the female sample population and 68% in the male sample population. Agro-ecologically sound and community-based genetic improvement programs should be developed and implemented with the inclusion of breeding objectives, trait preferences, and a production system that is focused on the market. Generally, there were morphological trait variations observed among the indigenous chicken populations across the study districts and between sexes, which suggests that there is an opportunity for genetic improvement through selection. Thus, farmers should get technical support on how to select the best indigenous chicken for breeding purposes and the formulation of a breeding plan should be implemented to conserve indigenous chicken genetic resources for genetic improvement strategies.
Keywords: Canonical Discriminant Analyses; Multivariate Analyses; Stepwise Discriminate Analysis
